Thursday, January 2, 2014

Final Tally and Imediate Plans, January 3

The is a brief post to update readers on my final tally and my plans to fill in the gaps of this adventure called a Big Year.

On December 31, 2013, my birthday, I added Smith's Longspur at Stuttgart Municipal Airport east of Little Rock, Arkansas. I got good views and photos. More about that later in my more detailed updates. Smith's Longspur is number 733 with two provisional species not yet accepted in North America, Common Redstart (sen on St. Paul) and Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Adak). It has truly been a phenomenal Big Year for me!

Prior to the Smith's Longspur, I added Chukar at Antelope Island State Park north of Salt Lake City, Utah on Christmas Eve. Chukar was number 731 +2. Then as readers may know from ABA blogs and Neil Hayward's Accidental Big Year blog, I added Great Skua on Brian Patteson's boat, appropriately named F/V Skua, on Saturday December 28 with Neil Hayward and two other birders for number 732 + 2.

I will be updating my blog with posts from December and then will go back and fill in the gaps with missing posts from August through November, when I was birding and travelling around the country so quickly that I only had time to give updates to the species list. I want to capture these experiences before I lose them forever in faded memory.

Way to go Jay, I've really enjoyed meeting you twice this year and also reading your exploits. It's damn cold here in Minnesota but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Snowy Owl!Scott B. Meyer